England's World Cup qualification gives major financial boost to FA

England's automatic qualification for next summer's World Cup finals was cheered not only in the dressing room, in the stands and in living rooms up and down the land, but in the Football Association's boardroom.

For the new FA chairman, Greg Dyke, qualification will come as a huge relief, both financially and culturally, as he looks to future proof the organisation and embarks on a wide-ranging review designed to improve the long-term health of the national team.

At a time when the FA is still supporting the onerous loan repayments required to rebuild the £757m national stadium, and embarking on a marketing drive to retain the 17,500 Club Wembley corporate customers that underpin the business model, the fillip provided by qualification goes beyond the bottom line.

In terms of prize money alone, England are now guaranteed at least £8m from Fifa for reaching the World Cup finals, even if they go out in the group stages. If they reach the quarter-finals the prize money on offer rises to £16m and £26.5m in the unlikely event they should lift the trophy.

It has been estimated that England could make around £10m in extra revenue from licensing and merchandising now that they have reached the finals. Despite the tempered aspirations of many fans, the boost provided to replica shirt sales and other licensed merchandising is still significant.

Supermarkets, retailers, broadcasters and brewers will also be relieved that England have qualified, hoping that the bounce will replicate the £1bn boost that was predicted in 2010.

The FA worked hard to insulate itself from the impact of failing to qualify for a major tournament and the general secretary, Alex Horne, recently said the downside would have been limited.

It has signed up the main England sponsor, Vauxhall, all the way to 2018 in a £6m-a-year deal and agreed a kit deal with Nike worth £25m per year for the same period.

ITV has secured the exclusive rights to all of England's qualifying matches and home friendlies until 2018, guaranteeing that income for the FA. Its recently released accounts from 2012 showed the importance of those revenue streams, with £131m from broadcasting and £54m from sponsorship and licensing.

The depressing atmosphere surrounding the South Africa 2010 campaign, and the limp exit to Germany in the round of 16, was a factor in Nationwide and National Express failing to renew their deals.

But while their main contracts are protected, given the safety net of what should be the relatively straightforward task of qualifying for an expanded 24-team European Championship in France, the impact of failing to qualify would have been felt in the FA's wider dealings with the commercial sector.

The impact on ongoing negotiations with the 10-year Club Wembley debenture holders who pour £56m a year into the FA's coffers should not be underestimated either.

The FA acknowledges it is already facing a tough task to persuade them to renew, but the optimism provided by a successful qualification campaign will be an important marketing tool.

With the FA's official supporters' club admitting that interest in watching the national side at Wembley has dwindled in recent years, further cynicism about the side's prospects could also have had a knock-on effect on gate receipts.

As Dyke's FA commission into the future of the national side gets to work, taking evidence from a wide range of figures within the game with the aim of producing a report by the end of March, it will do so against the backdrop of a successful qualifying campaign.

While some may have speculated that only failure to qualify would have provided the necessary shock to the system to apply the pressure required for major structural change, the counterview is that a World Cup summer without England would only have accelerated the decline in the status of international football.

Launching his commission in September, Dyke had already warned that England risked sliding into irrelevancy in the minds of football fans if the current "alarming" trends were not addressed. The focal point of a Brazilian World Cup may focus minds on what would be lost if the problems surrounding homegrown talent are not addressed.